M/V Bahamas Daybreak III, mailboat serving Eleuthera from Nassau

by Eric Wiberg

The Bahamas Daybreak III at the government jetty, The Bluff, North Eleuthera, about 1992. Research on the specifications of this boat and the difference between the names (used to be Bahamas Daybreak III in the 1990s but it now appears that the same vessel is simply “Bahamas Daybreak”), is unusually difficult as there are not entries at www.shipindex.org, www.shipspotting.com or www.grosstonnage.com or even the International Maritime Organization site www.equasis.org. I did find an article from a German magazine in 2008 and there is a small photo-essay with photos taken from the Bahamas Daybreak sprinkled throughout this blog (I rode the vessel often 1985-1994).

MAILBOAT NAME: M/V Bahamas Daybreak III
PAST NAMES: not known – seems to be the third in the series of “Bahamas Daybreak” named boats
DIMENSIONS:110 feet long, 24 passengers,  it looks like her government # in the Bahamas is NP 2686 from this photo
CONSTRUCTION: not known
YEAR BUILT: not known
EARLY CAREER: so far as is known she has been serving the Bahamas her entire career

BAHAMAS CAREER: serves South Eleuthera (Governors Harbour, Hatchet Bay, etc.) leaving Mondays at 5 PM, then North Eleuthera (Bluff, Spanish Wells, Harbour Island) leaving Wednesdays at 5 PM, from Nassau.
CAPTAINS: Captain Quincy Sawyer & Capt. Ashok (relief captain?). In the 1980s and 1990s It used to be run by a Captain Moss, who I was told in March 2014 now works for Bahamas Fast Ferries
FATE: still operating in April 2014
OWNERS: Capt. Theophilus Sutart of North Eleuthera according to Nassau “Tribune” of Feb. 10, 2006
NOTES: Phone: (242) 333-2358, (242) 335-1163
The “Chicago Tribune” of October 14, 1990 (by Ian Glass) had an article recommending the Bahamas Daybreak III and the Current Pride and Harley and Charley, available online at http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1990-10-14/travel/9003270129_1_lee-wagener-blvd-bahamas-reservation-service-cotton-bay-club

Bahamas Daybreak at Potter’s Cay Nassau in March of 2014 – note the name is newly painted without the “III” at the end, and she has a fresh blue paint job, however structurally it appears to be the same vessel as below, from the early 1990’s.

Bahamas Daybreak III taken at the Government Dock, Dunmore Town Harbour Island, early 1990s.
Detail of men working the Bahamas Daybreak III from a German article from 30 April 2008. It appears the photo was taken at Potters Cay Dock Nassau as Paradise Island can be seen in the background.